On Monday of last week I purchased a track machine from DeAngelis Rentals / Parhar Repairs. The…read morelisting stated the machine "ran mint," had about 1,490 hours, was maintained in-house by their mechanics, and had new tracks.
Before agreeing to the deal I spoke directly with the owner and specifically asked if the machine had any major issues beyond cosmetic wear and if it operated as it should. He assured me it ran very well and had no issues at all.
We agreed on a deal Monday morning and the machine was delivered by midday.
When it arrived, the machine was extremely dirty and the tracks were packed with mud, cement, and debris. I was told it had been on rental the day before. The listing had also been up for some time, yet the machine now had over 1,600 hours, not the ~1,490 hours advertised.
I unloaded the machine and ran it briefly, then parked it. About an hour later I went back to properly test it and immediately heard a knocking noise. Thinking it might just be debris stuck in the tracks, I started cleaning them out. That's when I discovered the track was worn extremely thin and actually broken, and the drive sprocket was completely worn down.
I called the owner immediately and his response was "I had no idea."
There were also several other issues with the machine.
To his credit, he agreed to send a mechanic out to replace the track and sprocket. Two days later the mechanic came and installed them. After finishing, we both test drove the machine and it was still clearly not operating properly. The mechanic said he needed to go speak with his boss.
I spoke with the owner again and he said he would think of something and get back to me. At this point I had already lost three full days and still had not been able to use the machine since delivery.
Because the track and sprocket were worn so badly, I suspected a deeper issue and had the machine inspected by a mechanic who specializes in this exact model. The diagnosis was that the drive system itself is failing, which is a major and expensive repair.
When I finally spoke with the owner again on Friday, I was passed off to a second owner who said he would come look at it Monday.
At that point I explained that the machine had been inspected and clearly had significant mechanical issues, far beyond normal maintenance. The hours were misrepresented, the track was broken upon delivery, the sprocket was worn out, and the machine absolutely did not "run mint" as advertised.
I asked them to simply take the machine back. By then it was Friday and I still had not been able to use it. Instead, they continued to try putting band-aids on the problem to get me to keep it.
I even offered to let them keep some money for the delivery, but the owner refused and told me I should have done my due diligence and had it inspected before buying it.
Honestly, that's the first thing he said that I agree with. But I specifically asked him to be honest with me before making the deal, and I trusted that I was dealing with a reputable rental company that maintained its equipment properly.
When he refused to take the machine back, it became clear what kind of situation I was dealing with.
Lesson learned. I assumed that the year, hours, and the fact that it was coming from a rental company meant it would be as advertised.
The machine is now being inspected by the manufacturer and the company that originally sold it. We'll see where this goes, because misrepresenting equipment in a sale is not something any business should be doing.
Buyer beware.
